Most individuals buy and use a hair shampoo for its cleansing properties. In addition to having clean hair, the consumer also desires sufficiently-conditioned hair that holds a preset configuration. However, hair shampoos generally are formulated with highly effective synthetic surfactants, like anionic surfactants, that primarily clean as opposed to conditioning the hair. Therefore, shampoos usually neither aid in the detangling of wet hair nor impart any residual conditioning benefits to dry hair, such as manageability or styleability of hair sets.
Consequently, the hair normally is left in a cosmetically-unsatisfactory state after washing with an anionic surfactant-based hair shampoo. Anionic surfactants not only remove the dirt and soil from the hair, but also remove essentially all of the sebum naturally present on the surface of the hair fibers. Therefore, it was found that the desirable properties of anionic surfactants that effectively clean the hair also serve to leave the hair in a cosmetically-unsatisfactory condition. In general, hair shampoo compositions containing anionic surfactants, or nonionic surfactants or amphoteric surfactants, leave the hair with an undesirable harsh, dull and dry touch, or feel, usually called "creak", after the hair is shampooed and then rinsed with water.
Furthermore, thoroughly cleansed hair also is extremely difficult to comb, in either the wet or the dry state, because the individual hair fibers tend to snarl, kink, and interlock with each other. In addition, incompletely dried hair, such as hair dried with a towel, has poor brushing properties, and after complete drying, the hair does not set well. Furthermore, the combing or brushing property of the hair remains poor, and the hair has undesirable electrostatic properties in a low humidity atmosphere that causes the hair to "fly away", thereby further reducing the brushing properties of the hair. The unsatisfactory combing or brushing property of hair immediately after shampooing, or during trimming treatments after shampooing, also causes hair damage, such as split ends or hair breakage. In addition, the natural luster and resiliency of the hair is reduced. Consequently, the overall unsatisfactory condition of the shampooed hair usually necessitates a subsequent post-shampoo treatment of the hair with a special conditioning composition to improve these undesirable physical characteristics. These conditioning compositions normally are applied separately from the hair shampoo, and usually are rinses or cream-like emulsions or lotions containing a cationic compound.
Therefore, consumer needs traditionally have been met by the application of a shampoo to cleanse the hair, followed by the application of a conditioner composition to improve wet combing. The commonly accepted method has been to shampoo the hair, followed by rinsing the hair, and then separately applying a conditioner composition, followed by a second rinse. As previously discussed, freshly shampooed hair is inclined to knot and tangle, and therefore is difficult to comb and difficult to manage. The wet combing problem has been solved by treating shampooed hair with a conditioner composition that coats the hair shaft and causes the individual hair shafts in a tress to resist tangling and matting because of the conditioner residue retained on the shaft.
However, the need for improved compositions that condition the hair, i.e., renders the hair more manageable, has long been recognized in the art. As previously discussed, it is well-known that anionic surfactants are suitable for hair shampooing, and that cationic compounds, like cationic surfactants and cationic polymers, are useful as hair conditioners. Therefore, cationic compounds that are substantive to hair usually are used to complete the hair cleansing and hair conditioning cycle.
The ability of cationic compounds to adsorb or react with the keratinous material of the hair makes them the most desirable compounds for imparting the desired improvement in wet hair detangling and dry hair manageability. However, hair conditioning compositions including cationic compounds that adsorb particularly strongly to the hair also can reduce the elasticity, body and set of the dried hair. Therefore, although conditioning compositions for application to freshly shampooed hair are well known, new and improved conditioning formulations based on cationic compounds are continually sought. For example, the majority of present-day, commercial hair-conditioner compositions are emulsion-type products that leave too great of a conditioning-compound residue on the hair. Consequently, the present invention is directed to a new, non-emulsified, clear hair-conditioning composition comprising a combination of suitable hair-conditioning ingredients that is esthetically acceptable to consumers, improves the wet combing and dry combing properties of hair, and also leaves the dry hair with satisfactory cosmetic properties and physical properties, including, in particular, dry combing and feel, less hair coating, manageability, body, condition of the ends and set.
Hair conditioning compositions, such as emulsion-type creme rinses, are well known in the art for improving the combing properties of wet hair and dry hair. These conditioning compositions typically are aqueous emulsions including a cationic compound, like a quaternary ammonium compound, as the principal conditioning agent. The prior art describes the quaternary ammonium compound either as a polymeric material having a plurality of quaternary nitrogen atoms per molecule or as a molecule having at least one long carbon atom chain and an average of one quaternary nitrogen atom per molecule. The prior art also describes hair conditioning compositions as including silicon-containing compounds, substituted amines and amides, nonionic surfactants, long carbon chain alcohols, and other ingredients to facilitate composition formulation and enhance consumer appeal.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,744 to Cella et al discloses that cationic compounds, such as quaternary ammonium compounds, and silicones can be combined with perfluorinated compounds to provide hair treatment compositions. The silicones specifically disclosed by Cella et al are surfactant-like polyoxyethylene polymethylsiloxanes that are presumed to be water-soluble or dispersible. According to Cella et al, both the quaternary ammonium compounds and the silicones are utilized in relatively small amounts, e.g., about 0.05 weight percent of the composition. Other prior art patents disclosing the use of silicones having viscosities greater than about 100 centistokes at 25.degree. C. to provide lubricity or sheen to various cosmetic preparations, include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,942,008; 3,594,409; 3,824,303; and 4,014,995.
Matravers, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,433, discloses a clear conditioning composition comprising an aqueous blend of a polymeric quaternary ammonium salt, ethoxylated lauryl alcohol, ethoxylated cholesterol and hydroxyethylcellulose. However, each of the ingredients included in the Matravers composition is water-soluble or water-dispersible. The volatile conditioning agent utilized in the present invention, such as a volatile silicone or a volatile hydrocarbon, is water insoluble, and, therefore, is the most difficult component of the composition to solubilize. The composition disclosed by Matravers does not include a water-insoluble, volatile conditioning agent, and there is no suggestion or teaching of the desirability of including a water-insoluble conditioning agent in the composition disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,433.
British Patent No. 1,598,567 further discloses the use of a linear or a cyclic, volatile polydimethylsiloxanes, i.e., having a boiling point in the range of 99.degree. C. to 265.degree. C., in hair conditioning compositions. The composition of British Patent No. 1,598,567 is described as avoiding the formation of an oleophilic hair surface that usually occurs when using a quaternary ammonium hair conditioning agent. South African patent application No. 666,421 also teaches the use of compositions containing straight chain and volatile cyclic silicone fluids to provide gloss and conditioning effects to hair dressings.
Nachtigal et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,055, discloses a pearlescent hair conditioner composition including a quaternized tertiary amidoamine, a quaternary ammonium compound and, optionally, a tertiary amidoamine, i.e., stearamidoethyldiethylamine. The composition of Nachtigal et al is directed to achieving a stable pearlescent effect and neither includes a volatile conditioning agent nor is the composition a clear conditioning composition that demonstrates the improved rinsability of the clear hair-treating composition of the present invention.
Bolich et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,825, discloses an aqueous hair conditioning composition comprising a volatile hydrocarbon or volatile silicone, a cationic hair conditioning agent and a nonionic thickening agent. Similarly, Bolich et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,375, discloses a hair conditioning composition comprising a volatile hydrocarbon or a volatile silicone, a nonionic thickening agent, a quaternary ammonium salt and a salt of a fatty amine. Neither Bolich et al patent teaches or suggests using a combination of a solubilizing nonionic surfactant with a polyhydric compound to completely solubilize the volatile conditioning agent to provide the unexpectedly efficacious, clear hair-conditioning composition of the present invention. Bolich, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,090, also discloses a hair-conditioner composition comprising a volatile hydrocarbon or a volatile silicone conditioning agent and a hydrophobic thickening agent. Other prior art references relating to the use of a volatile conditioning agent in hair-conditioning compositions include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,577,528; 3,932,610; and 3,818,105.
Coopersmith in U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,015 discloses that C.sub.12 to C.sub.14 isoparaffinic hydrocarbons, when combined with naphthenic materials, are useful in a wide range of cosmetic formulations. Such paraffinic hydrocarbons lubricate the skin to achieve a quick spreading, non-greasy application of the product, with evaporation of the hydrocarbon after application to avoid a greasy buildup.
Japanese TKS No. 57-50909 discloses a hair conditioner composition comprising a volatile silicone and a combination of two water-insoluble quaternary ammonium salts, wherein each quaternary ammonium salt includes two long chain alkyl groups. Japanese TKS No. 57-50909 does not teach or suggest using an amidoamine compound in a composition to impart unexpected hair conditioning properties to hair or the desirability of solubilizing a water-insoluble volatile conditioning agent to provide a clear hair-conditioning composition.
Wagman et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,037 discloses a hair conditioner composition comprising a polydimethyl cyclosiloxane, a quaternary-nitrogen containing conditioning agent having two long alkyl chains of twelve to eighteen carbons and two short alkyl chains of one or two carbon atoms, a long chain fatty alcohol and a tertiary amidoamine of the general structural formula (III): ##STR3## wherein R.sub.5 is a fatty chain having from about 11 to about 17 carbon atoms, R.sub.6 is an alkylene group having 2 or 3 carbon atoms and R.sub.7 is either methyl or ethyl. The compositions of Wagman et al are emulsions as opposed to the clear hair-conditioning compositions of the present invention that demonstrate improved rinsability from the hair and that impart exceptional conditioning properties to the hair while coating the hair with less of the quaternary ammonium compound and the volatile conditioning agent.
As will be demonstrated more fully hereinafter, and in contrast to prior art, emulsion-type hair-conditioning compositions, a clear hair-conditioner composition of the present invention, comprising a quaternary ammonium compound, a volatile conditioning agent, an amidoamine compound of general structural formula (I) or (II), a solubilizing nonionic surfactant and a polyhydric compound, unexpectedly exhibits improved rinsability from the hair and imparts improved conditioning properties upon application to human hair. Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, hair conditioning properties are surprisingly and unexpectedly improved by a method of contacting the hair with a clear composition comprising a quaternary ammonium compound, a volatile conditioning agent, an amidoamine compound of general structural formula (I) or (II), a solubilizing nonionic surfactant and a polyhydric compound. The compositions of the present invention can be applied to the hair from an aqueous vehicle at ambient temperature and are allowed to contact the hair for relatively short times to provide the benefits and advantages of a hair conditioner. Consequently, the method and composition of the present invention condition the hair to provide more manageable and esthetically-pleasing hair.